News Item: ni0096-12

Wall Street Is Bracing for the Dodd-Frank Rules to Kick In

Wall Street lobbyists, the influential power brokers railing against regulation, may soon pass the mantle to more unassuming colleagues: bank compliance officers.

After spending three years and hundreds of millions of dollars attacking a bevy of new rules, Wall Street is begrudgingly gearing up for a new, if more mundane, phase of federal oversight.

Regulators are putting the finishing touches on the Dodd-Frank Act, the sprawling regulatory overhaul, leaving lawyers and compliance officials to steer banks through the new era. The specialists are drawing up training manuals and interactive programs to guide traders, prodding regulators to clarify the minutiae of new rules and, when all else fails, begging for more time.